Method of water discharge management

ABSTRACT

A method of water discharge management in a water processing system is provided. The method includes providing a supply of a first solution, providing a supply of a second solution, and selectively supplying the first solution to a water processing system and the second solution to the water processing system. The method further includes controllably and selectively directing discharge water formed in the water processing system through a first multi-way valve to a waste outlet during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a first selected criteria, and to a second multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a second selected criteria. The method also includes controllably and selectively directing the discharge water through the second multi-way valve to a first storage container connected to the second multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a third selected criteria, and to a third multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a fourth selected criteria. In addition, the method includes controllably and selectively directing the discharge water through the third multi-way valve to a second storage container during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a fifth selected criteria, and the discharge water as a solution to the supply of first solution during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a sixth selected criteria.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application, Ser. No. 61/288,978, filed Dec. 22, 2009, entitled“Systems, Methods and Apparatus for Automatic Water Management of WaterSoftener Discharge Water”, the entire contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to automatic water management.

BACKGROUND

It is known to process or treat water for a variety of purposes. Commonwater processing mechanisms are known, examples of which are ionexchange systems and filtration systems, or more specifically, cationexchange systems and dealkalizers, as well as carbon or chlorine filtersand particulate filters. For instance, in areas where water suppliedfrom a well or a utility main line is particularly hard (e.g., has ahigh quantity of hard water ions, such as calcium or magnesium ions), itmay be desirable to soften the water by removing the hard water ions(e.g., calcium and magnesium ions) and replacing them with soft waterions (e.g., sodium ions), often through the use of a cation exchangewater softener.

One type of traditional cation exchange water softener utilizes resinbeads that are saturated with soft water ions. The hard water is passedover or around the resin beads, allowing the soft water ions to replacethe hard water ions in the water. That is, the hard water ions will havebecome bound to the resin beads, while the soft water ions have beenreleased from the resin beads and dispersed into the water. Eventually,the resin beads become saturated with hard water ions, i.e., most of thesoft water ions associated with the resin beads have been exchanged forhard water ions. As the number of soft water ions associated with theresin beads decreases, with the resin beads becoming saturated with hardwater ions, the resin beads become less effective at removing (e.g.,stripping) the hard water ions from the water and replacing them withsoft water ions.

Similar analogies can be made to other ion exchange and filteringdevices for water. A regeneration process is periodically applied to theresin beads to remove the accumulated hard water ions from the resinbeads and to resupply the resin beads with soft water ions. During theregeneration process, the hard water ions are stripped from the resinbeads and soft water ions are again hound to the resin beads. A knownmethod of regenerating the resin beads is to pass a saturated salt water(brine) solution (e.g., water that is saturated with soft water ions)over/around the resin beads. The soft water ions in the brine solutiondisplace the hard water ions on the resin beads and become associatedwith the resin beads. The freed hard water ions are then discharged withthe remaining salt water/brine solution from a drain outlet of the watersoftener into the building's wastewater system.

The above-outlined examples of a regeneration cycle for a cationexchange water softener, while necessary for the proper maintenance andoperation of the example cation exchange water softener, may generatesignificant maintenance expenses for an end user of the example cationexchange water softener. One such expense is the periodic replacement ofa source of soft water ions. Typically, the end user will need topurchase sodium salt blocks, solar salt and/or pellets that are used togenerate the salt water or brine solution used during the above-outlinedregeneration cycle. Similar expenses and cycles occur in other ionexchange and filter systems.

Another cost associated with the above-outlined regeneration cyclerelates to the volume of water used by the example cation exchange watersoftener during the regeneration cycle. Whether the water used by theexample cation exchange water softener comes from a well, a utility mainline, or any other source, there may be inherent expenses associatedwith supplying and/or disposing of that water. In the case of a well,there may be costs related to operating a water pump to draw the waterfrom the well. These costs can include, for example, electricity used tooperate the pump, maintenance/replacement costs during the life span ofthe pump and expenses associated with drilling the well to furtherdepths to reach a sustainable water table. In the case of water from autility main line, there may be utility costs based on the volume ofwater supplied through the utility main line. Furthermore, regardless ofthe source of the water, there may be costs associated with disposing ofthat water, such as, for example, sewer costs, septic tank costs and thelike. Additionally, these water expenses may be conditional on local,environmental issues, such as droughts, water caps and water usagerestrictions (e.g., by volume or time of day).

Accordingly, systems, apparatus and methods are provided for reclaimingwater that has been discharged during a cycle of a water processingsystem.

SUMMARY OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

A water discharge management system for a water processing system isdisclosed. The water processing system is connected to a first solutionsupply and to a second solution supply. A first multi-way valve isconnected to a discharge outlet of the water processing system. A secondmulti-way valve is connected to the first multi-way valve and to a firstwater storage container. A third multi-way valve is connected to thesecond multi-way valve and to a second water storage container. Thethird multi-way valve is also connected to the first water supply.

A water discharge management system for a water processing system isalso provided including a water processing system connected to a firstsolution supply and to a second solution supply. A multi-way valve isconnected to a discharge outlet of the water processing system arrangedto convey discharge water to at least one of a coupled storage containerand the water processing system.

A water discharge management system is further provided having aplurality of interconnected multi-way valves. At least one of theplurality of interconnected multi-way valves is coupled to a dischargeport of a water processing system. The multi-way valves are controllableto selectively separate discharge water during a water processing cycleinto waste, grey water, potable water, and regenerant solution such thatdischarge water is reclaimed by the system.

A method of water discharge management in a water processing system isalso provided. The method includes providing a supply of a firstsolution, providing a supply of a second solution, and selectivelysupplying the first solution to a water processing system and the secondsolution to the water processing system. The method further includescontrollably and selectively directing discharge water formed in thewater processing system through a first multi-way valve to a waste.outlet during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a firstselected criteria, and to a second multi-way valve during a period inwhich the discharge water satisfies a second selected criteria. Themethod also includes controllably and selectively directing thedischarge water through the second multi-way valve to a first storagecontainer connected to the second multi-way valve during a period inwhich the discharge water satisfies a third selected criteria, and to athird multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge watersatisfies a fourth selected criteria. In addition, the method includescontrollably and selectively directing the discharge water through thethird multi-way valve to a second storage container during a period inwhich the discharge water satisfies a fifth selected criteria, and thedischarge water as a solution to the supply of first solution during aperiod in which the discharge water satisfies a sixth selected criteria.

A further water discharge management system is provided. The waterdischarge management system includes a water processing system, acontroller provided with an executable recapture protocol, and aplurality of controllable multi-way valves which control and implement aregeneration cycle of the water processing system based upon therecapture protocol. Each controllable multi-way valve is in operablecommunication with the controller through a signal path. Thecontrollable multi-way valves are responsive to a signal exchanged withthe controller through the signal path and operable between a firstposition connecting an input from the water processing system to a firstoutput, and a second position connecting the input from the waterprocessing system to a second output.

In various examples of embodiments, a controller of a water dischargemanagement system selectively and/or controllably connects a dischargeline or tube of a cation exchange water softener, during a regenerationcycle, to a waste water drain line or to the water discharge managementsystem. The water discharge management system reclaims the dischargedwater to be used for one or more future purposes. In various examples ofembodiments, the water discharge management system returns at least aportion of the discharged water to a brine tank or other regenerantsolution storage tank used by the cation exchange water softener of thewater discharge management system. In various other examples ofembodiments, the water discharge management system directs one or moreother portions of the discharged water to a storage tank for later use,such as, for example, use as grey water or as potable water.

In various examples of embodiments, a water discharge management systemthat includes a water softener, such as, for example, a cation exchangewater softener, reclaims water discharged during a regeneration cycle ofthe water softener if that water has secondary uses, such as, forexample, use as brine or another regenerant solution, grey water and/orpotable water. In various ones of these examples of embodiments, acontroller for the water softener also controls one or more motorizedvalves of the water discharge management system. The motorized valvesare usable to direct the discharged water to a drain or waste line ifthe discharged water has no secondary uses and to one or more storagecontainers of the water discharge management system if that dischargedwater has a secondary use. In various ones of these examples ofembodiments, the controller of the water discharge management systemcontrols at least one motorized three-way valve to selectively discardor reclaim the water discharged from the water softener.

In various examples of embodiments, a water discharge management systemcontrollably operates a water softener, one or more controllablemotorized valves and one or more storage tanks to reclaim dischargedwater released during a regeneration cycle of the water softener if thatwater has a secondary use, such as, for example, as a source of brine,as a source of grey water, etc.

These and other features and advantages of various examples ofembodiments of systems and methods are described in, or are apparentfrom, the following detailed descriptions of various examples ofembodiments of various devices, structures and/or methods of the waterdischarge management system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Various examples of embodiments of the systems and methods disclosedherein will be described in detail, with reference to the followingfigures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cation exchange water softener in afirst state of use, such as but not limited to after regeneration;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a second state of use, where hard water ions in the water arereplaced with soft water ions;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a third state of use, where regeneration is desirable;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a fourth state of use, during a backwash stage of the regenerationcycle;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a fifth state of use, as a regenerant solution stage begins;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a sixth state of use, as the regenerant solution stage nearscompletion;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a seventh state of use, during an initial portion of the slow rinsestage where the regenerant solution is recapturable and/or reclaimable;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in an eighth state of use, during an intermediate and/or latterportion of the slow rinse stage of the regeneration cycle, wherereclaiming the discharge water as the regenerant solution is no longerdesirable, but where the discharge water is not yet desirably recapturedfor use as grey water;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the cation exchange water softener of FIG.1 in a ninth state of use, during a final portion of the slow rinsestage and/or during a fast rinse stage of the regeneration cycle wherethe discharge water may be recaptured for use as grey water;

FIG. 10 is a graph outlining the relative soft water ion concentrationof water exiting a cation exchange water softener over time duringvarious stages of the regeneration cycle, along with indications ofvarious time periods where reclaiming the discharge water as reclaimedregenerate solution and/or recaptured grey water is appropriate;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart outlining one or more examples of embodiments ofa method for reclaiming various types of water and/or regenerantsolution during the regeneration cycle of a cation exchange watersoftener according to this invention; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of one or more examples ofembodiments of a water discharge management system that is usable toreclaim or recapture various types of water and/or regenerant solutionduring the regeneration cycle of a cation exchange water softener.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The discussion herein describes various examples of a water softenersystem. The use of a water softener system is for purposes of exampleonly. While a water softener system and a cation exchange used therewithare specifically described herein to illustrate the examples, one ofskill in the art would understand that the discussion herein may beapplied to any suitable ion exchange system where some or all of theregeneration water may be desirable to be reclaimed, such as, but notlimited to, a dealkalizer, as well as to a filtration system, such asbut not limited to a carbon filter or particulate filter. For examplethe water processing system herein may be or include a waterconditioning unit, an ion exchange system including cation and anionexchange systems (cation exchange systems may include but are notlimited to water softening systems, and radium removal systems; anionexchange systems include but are not limited to dealkalizers, tanninremoval systems, nitrate removal systems, arsenic removal systems), awater filtration system including but not limited to pH filters, acidneutralizers, carbon filtration systems, taste and odor filters,multi-media filters, filter ag filters, birm filters, iron filters,hydrogen sulfide filters, sand filters, and particulate filters.

As outlined above, cation exchange water softeners and other ionexchange systems require periodic regeneration for example to removehard water ions from the water softener and replace those hard waterions with soft water ions. Over the course of a regeneration cycle, softwater ions in a regenerant solution, such as, for example, a brinesolution, initially replace many of the hard water ions that werepreviously associated with the resin beads, leaving soft water ionsassociated with the resin beads and the hard water ions dispersed in thedischarge water. Those hard water ions are removed from the cationexchange water softener as the discharge water is discharged. As such,there is an initial time period, during a backwash stage and/or at thebeginning of a regenerant solution stage of the regeneration cycle,during which the discharge water being discharged from the cationexchange water softener contains a very high concentration of hard waterions (referred to in the following description as highly alkaline water)and/or a low concentration of soft water ions, and may contain variousparticulates and/or precipitates, Conventionally, this very hard, highlyalkaline discharge water is treated, in most instances, as waste waterand is not reclaimed or captured for use as grey water.

As the regenerant solution stage of the regeneration cycle continues,the resin beads will continue to capture most of the soft water ionsfrom the regenerant solution and release more of the hard water ionsinto the regenerant solution, turning the regenerant solution into thedischarge water. However, as the regeneration cycle proceeds, thisexchange continues at a decreasing rate. That is, fewer exchanges willhappen in a given period of time as the regenerant stage of theregeneration cycle continues, such that increasing amounts of the softwater ions remain in the regenerant solution/discharge water as it exitsthe bed of resin beads, while decreasing amounts of the hard water ionsare released into the regenerant solution/discharge water. Eventually,the resin beads will have captured as many soft water ions as they canhold and will have released all or most of the hard water ions into thedischarge water. That is, from this point on in the regeneration cycle,relatively few hard salt ions will be stripped from the resin beads,allowing relatively few soft water ions to associate with the resinbeads, resulting in a high concentration of soft water ions, and a lowor zero concentration of hard water ions, in the discharge water.

Finally, during one or more rinsing stages, the remaining regenerantsolution left in the water softener is rinsed from the cation exchangewater softener with water from a raw water supply, such as, for examplefrom a well or a utility main line. The one or more rinsing stagesresult in a steep decline in the concentration of soft water ions in thedischarge water, as soft water ions are no longer being introduced intothe cation exchange water softener and decreasing amounts of soft waterions remain to be rinsed out.

There are thus one or more time periods during which the water beingdischarged from the cation exchange water softener will have asufficiently high concentration of soft water ions. Thishigh-soft-water-ion-concentration discharge water (which may be referredto as sweet brine) can be reclaimed and used as a source of regenerantsolution for future regeneration cycles, or even reused during the sameregeneration cycle, res in a savings of resources (e.g., salt andwater), and thus money, to the user.

Likewise, there is at least one time period during regeneration when thedischarge water being discharged from the water softener will have asufficiently low concentration of soft water ions. The discharge waterduring these time periods can be reclaimed and used as a grey watersource. That is, this discharge water can be used as grey water to waterplants, operate toilets and/or can be used in other non-potablesituations.

It should be appreciated that there may be other portions of thedischarge water that may be desirably reclaimed or recaptured forsecondary use. For example, there may be periods during the regenerationcycle when the discharge water being discharged from the water softenercan be collected and used as a potable water source. In general, it maybe desirable to reclaim the discharge water being discharged from thewater softener whenever that discharge water has any desired secondaryuse. It should also he appreciated that the reclaimed or recaptureddischarge water may be treated or otherwise altered before becominguseful for a secondary purpose. In various examples of embodiments, itmay be desirable to recapture and/or reclaim all of the discharge waterdischarged during the regeneration cycle and to subsequently treatand/or use that discharge water for a variety of different purposes.Moreover, different portions of the discharge water can be reclaimedand/or recaptured, and stored into different storage tanks orcontainers, such as the regenerant solution tank and/or one or moreseparate storage tanks. While specific tanks or containers are providedherein for examples, one or multiple storage tanks or containers bothupstream and downstream of the water processing system may he used. Oneor more of the separately stored reclaimed and/or recaptured portions ofthe discharge water can then be subjected to different treatments. It isalso noted that in certain systems regeneration and/or regenerantsolution may not be required, such as for example in a water filtrationsystem, such as but not limited to a carbon filter or a particulatefilter.

In the following description of various examples of embodiments, theregenerant solution enters the top of the tank or container, flows downthrough the resin beads, and then out the internal discharge tube. Thisflow pattern is commonly called “downflow” brining. It is alsoacceptable to reverse the flow direction, i.e., performing “upflow”brining. This simply requires introducing the regenerant solution intothe tank so that it flows down through the internal discharge tube, upthrough the resin beads and out through the top of the tank. It shouldbe appreciated that systems, methods and devices described herein,including the following examples of embodiments operate equallyregardless of whether upflow or downflow brining is used.

FIGS. 1-9 show schematic views of a water processing system 100 invarious states of use, including various stages or phases of aregeneration cycle. The water processing system may be suitable to treatwater or solution and or a certain criteria or characteristic thereof.To this end, the water processing system may be or include a waterconditioning unit, an ion exchange system including cation and anionexchange systems (cation exchange systems may include but are notlimited to water softening systems, and radium removal systems; anionexchange systems include but are not limited to dealkalizers, tanninremoval systems, nitrate removal systems, arsenic removal systems, awater filtration system including hut not limited to pH filters, acidneutralizers, carbon filtration systems, taste and odor filters,multi-media filters, filter ag filters, birm filters, iron filters,hydrogen sulfide filters, sand filters and particulate filters. Whilespecific examples are provided, one of skill in the art would understandthat any water processing or treatment system suitable for the purposesprovided may be substituted in place of the examples herein. The examplewater processing system provided herein, shown in FIGS. 1-9, is a cationexchange water softener 100. The water softener 100 includes a tank 102,a first flow passage that admits fluids into atop region 104 of thetank, an internal discharge tube 108 extending from a bottom region 106through the top region 104 of the tank 102 and that defines a secondflow passage by extending through the first flow passage, and a bed ofresin beads 120 located in a middle region 105 of the tank 102. In FIGS.1-9, the hard water ions 130 are shown as solid black circles, while thesoft water ions 132 are shown as hollow circles or rings.

FIGS. 1-9 also show one or more examples of embodiments of a waterconditioning controller that controllably connects various inlet andoutlet tubes or pipes or distribution channels or passages to the firstand second flow passages described above. As shown in FIGS. 1-9, thisexample water conditioning controller has a raw water inlet port 101that is connected to a raw water supply, a regenerant solution inlettube 103 that is connected to a regenerant solution storage tank, a softwater outlet port 107 that is connected to the building's soft watersupply pipes, and an external discharge tube 109 that is connected to awaste line. It should be appreciated that FIGS. 1-9 show instantaneousmoments of use.

As shown in various ones of FIGS. 1-9, at different times, the cationexchange water softener 100 can be supplied with a solution, such as butnot limited to hard raw water 110 from the raw water supply via the rawwater inlet port 101 or a solution, such as but not limited to aregenerant solution 112 from the regenerant solution storage tank viathe regenerant solution inlet tube 103, can supply or output softenedwater 111 or 113 to the soft water supply pipes via the soft wateroutlet port 107, and can discharge brackish water, highly alkalinewater, other generally unreclaimable water and the like, including aswaste water 115, reclaimable portions 114 of the regenerant solution 112and/or reclaimable water 116 via the external discharge tube 109. Inpractice, the raw water 110 and/or the regenerant solution 112 suppliedinto the cation exchange water softener 100 typically moves continuouslythrough the bed of resin beads 120. The hard water ions 130 and the softwater ions 132 are present in various concentrations, and are presenteither as ions associated with the resin beads 120, or as dissolved orfree ions in the raw water 110, the regenerant solution 112, thesoftened water 111 and 113, the waste water 115, the reclaimableregenerant solution portions 114 and/or the reclaimable water 116.

As shown in FIGS. 1-9, the raw water 110 contains a lame concentrationof dissolved hard water ions 130. This may be representative of aninitial source of water (e.g., from a well or a utility main line) in anarea with particularly hard water. It should be appreciated that thehard water ions 130 may also include other contaminants, including butnot limited to ionic contaminants or dissolved particles that aredesirably removed from the raw water 110. The terms “hard water ions”and “soft water ions” are used for clarity reasons, but it should heappreciated that the contaminants or ions in the water may not betypically referred to as hard or soft. In various examples ofembodiments, the hard water ions 130 include one or more of iron,manganese, calcium and/or magnesium ions, and can include any other ions(i.e., ionic elements, chemicals, compounds or the like) that can becaptured by, attached to or associated with those resin beads 120 havingavailable soft water ions. Likewise, the soft water ions 132 may be anyion that can be used to desirably replace the hard water ions 130 thatare present in the raw water 110. In various examples of embodiments,the majority of soft water ions 132 are sodium ions, but they may alsobe potassium ions or any other known or later developed ionic chemicals,compounds or the like useable to replace the hard water ions 132 in theraw water 110 using the cation exchange water softener 100 or other ionexchange system.

FIGS. 1-3 show the cation exchange water softener 100 during a watersoftening phase or cycle. During this water softening phase or cycle,the water conditioning controller is in a first state, where it connectsthe first flow passage to the raw water port 101 and the second flowpassage to the soft water outlet port 107. As a result, the hard rawwater 110 flows into the top portion 104 through the raw water inletport 101, while softened water 111 flows out of the internal dischargetube 108, through the water conditioning controller and into the softwater outlet port 107.

As shown in FIG. 1, in an initial portion of the water softening phaseor cycle, such as, for example, immediately after a regeneration cyclehas been completed, the raw water 110 includes a high concentration ofhard water ions 130, while the resin beads 120 include a highconcentration of soft water ions 132. The condition shown in FIG. 1 isconsistent with a source of hard raw water 110 being supplied to thecation exchange water softener 100 to be softened, and the cationexchange water softener 100 being in a condition suitable to soften theraw water 110.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the raw water 110 entering the cation exchangewater softener 100 through the first flow passage into the top region104 above the bed of resin beads 120 contains primarily hard water ions(black circles) 130. The hard raw water 110 flows downwardly into andthrough the bed of resin beads 120, which, in this state, hold primarilysoft water ions (rings) 132. In contrast to the input hard raw water110, the softened water 111 flowing out of the bottom of the bed ofresin beads 120 into the bottom region 106 and traveling upwardlythrough the internal discharge tube 108 contains primarily soft waterions (rings) 132.

As shown in FIG. 2, during an example water softening phase or cycle,the soft water ions 132 replace the hard water ions 130 in the raw water110, leaving the hard water ions 130 attached to the resin beads 120. Asthe water softening phase or cycle continues, the hard water ions 130collect on the resin beads 120, while the soft water ions 132 areremoved from the resin beads 120 as the raw water 110 is converted intothe softened water 111 discharged from the cation exchange watersoftener 100. Moreover, during a water softening phase or cycle, theresin beads 120 in the cation exchange water softener 100 are graduallydepleted of their soft water ions 132 as they become saturated with thehard water ions 130. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the resin beads120 in this water softening phase hold increasing amounts of the hardwater ions 130, as well as significant but decreasing amounts of thesoft water ions 132.

As shown in FIG. 3, the resin beads 120 ultimately become saturated withthe hard water ions 130, having lost most or all of the soft water ions132 previously associated with or attached to the resin beads 120. Atsome point, the resin beads 120 will no longer be able to replace asufficient number of hard water ions 130 present in the raw water 110with soft water ions 132 to sufficiently soften the raw water 110,resulting in imperfectly softened water 113. Eventually, rather thansupplying the softened water 111, or even the imperfectly softened water113, the raw water 110 merely passes through the resin beads and isoutput from the cation exchange water softener 100. Of course, it shouldbe appreciated that the regeneration cycle can be initiated before thisoccurs, or even before the cation exchange water softener 100 beginsoutputting the imperfectly softened water 113.

In order to continue using the cation exchange water softener 100 tosoften the raw water 110, the resin beads 120 need to be regenerated toremove the hard water ions 130 and resupply the resin beads 120 withsoft water ions 132. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, while the imperfectlysoftened water 113 flowing out of the bed of resin beads 120 containsprimarily soft water ions (rings) 132, increasing amounts of the hardwater ions (black circles) 130 remain in the water 113 flowing out ofthe bed of resin beads 120 and upwardly through the discharge tube. Incontrast to FIG. 1, the resin beads 120 in this state primarily holdhard water ions 130, although insignificant and decreasing amounts ofthe soft water ions 132 may remain associated with the resin beads 120.

FIG. 4 shows an initial phase of a regeneration cycle of the cationexchange water softener 100. This initial phase or stage of theregeneration cycle is typically a backwash phase or stage. During thisbackwash phase or stage, the water conditioning controller moves fromthe first state, to a second state it connects the second flow passageto the raw water port 101 and the first flow passage to the externaldischarge tube 109. The external discharge tube 109 is connected eitherto a waste water drain or to a brine reclaim tank.

It should be appreciated that the downstream soft water distributionsystem is not completely cut off from the raw water supply during theregeneration cycle. Rather, in this second position, as well as in thethird, fourth and fifth positions discussed below with respect to FIGS.5-9, the water conditioning controller uses a bypass passage to connectthe raw water port 101 directly to the downstream soft water outlet port107. In FIGS. 4-9, the bypass hard water flowing through the soft wateroutlet port 107 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this initial backwash phase, the direction offlow is reversed from that shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 5-9, with the raw hardwater 110 flowing downwardly out of the bottom of the internal dischargetube 108 and then upwardly through the bottom portion 106 of the tank102 and through the resin beads 120. This reverse flow lifts the resinbeads 120 upwardly towards the top of the tank 104, allowing thereversely flowing hard raw water 110 to flush the tank 102 of turbidityand debris that may have been filtered out by the resin beads 120 fromthe raw water 110 during the water softening cycle shown in FIGS. 1, 2and 3.

That is, the discharge water flowing out the first flow passage, throughthe water conditioning controller and into the external discharge tube109 is waste water 115 that is carrying the turbidity and debris flushedfrom the tank 102. This portion of the waste water 115 is occasionallyunsuitable for any secondary uses. However, in many cases, after aninitial portion of this backwash phase or stage, rather than the wastewater 115, the discharged water is relatively clear raw hard water 110that is suitable for recapture as reclaimable water 116. Thisreclaimable water 116 is output from the external discharge tube 109 forthe remainder of this phase of the regeneration cycle as well as abeginning portion of the next, regenerant, phase of the regenerationcycle.

FIG. 5 shows initial portions of the regenerant solution phase of theregeneration cycle of the cation exchange water softener 100, while FIG.6 shows a final portion of the regenerant solution phase. During thisregenerant solution phase or stage, the water conditioning controllermoves from its second position (or first position if the backwash phaseis omitted), to a third position, where the first flow passage isconnected to the regenerant solution inlet tube 103, which is connectedto a regenerant solution tank (not shown) containing a regenerantsolution, while the second flow passage is again connected to theinternal discharge tube 108 and to the external discharge tube 109. Asshown in FIGS. 5 and 6, during this regenerant solution phase, theregenerant solution 112, which has a high concentration of soft waterions 132, is supplied to the cation exchange water softener 100. Theregenerant solution 112 is a saturated or nearly saturated solution ofsoft water ions 132 (e.g., sodium ions) in water. In various examples ofembodiments, the regenerant solution 112 is a brine solution. Theregenerant solution 112 thus supplies a high concentration of soft waterions 132 to the cation exchange water softener 100 and the resin beads120. The soft water ions 132 present in the regenerant solution 112 willthen replace the hard water ions 130 currently associated with the resinbeads 120.

Initially, as shown in FIG. 5, during a first portion of the regenerantsolution phase of the regeneration cycle, an abundance of hard waterions 130 are associated with the resin beads 120 and an abundance ofsoft water ions 132 are dissolved in the regenerant solution 112. Assuch, the soft water ions 132 easily dislodge or disassociate the hardwater ions 130 from the resin beads 120 and become captured by, attachedto or associated with the resin beads 120. As shown in FIG. 5, thiswaste water 115 discharged from the cation exchange water softener 100initially contains a high concentration of hard water ions 130(jettisoned or dislodged from the resin beads 120 by the soft water ions132) and a relatively low concentration of the soft water ions 132.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the regenerant solution phase orstage of the regeneration cycle, in place of the hard raw water 110, theregenerant solution 112 is introduced into the cation exchange watersoftener 100 in the top region 104 above the bed of resin beads 120. Theresin beads 120 initially extract a substantial proportion of the softwater ions 132 from the water solution 112, driving an initially highconcentration of hard water ions 130 into the regenerant solution 112,turning it into the waste water 115. Consequently, in contrast to thesoftened water 111 shown in FIG. 1, in FIG. 5, waste water 115 flows outof the bottom of the bed of resin beads 120, into the bottom portion 106of the tank 102 and upwardly through the internal discharge tube 108.

As shown in FIG. 5, during the initial portions of the regenerantsolution phase, the resin beads 120 continue to hold primarily hardwater ions 130, while increasing amounts of the soft water ions 132become associated with the resin beads 120. In intermediate portions ofthe regenerant solution phase (not shown), the resin beads 120 holdsignificant but decreasing amounts of the hard water ions 130, whileholding significant and increasing amounts of the soft water ions 132.Additionally, in intermediate portions of the regenerant solution phase,small but increasing amounts of the soft water ions 132 pass through thebed of resin beads 120 and thus are present in the discharge water.

As shown in FIG. 6, in later or final portions of the regenerantsolution phase, the resin beads 120 become saturated with soft waterions 132, while the regenerant solution 112 continues to have a highconcentration of the soft water ions 132. That is, the suppliedregenerant solution 112, which has a high concentration of soft waterions 132, will retain the majority of its soft water ions 132, ratherthan exchanging them for hard water ions 130 attached to the resin beads120. At this stage in the regeneration cycle, the regenerant solution112 effectively passes through the bed of resin beads 120 into thebottom portion 106 of the tank 102. Accordingly, in these intermediateto later portions of the regenerant phase, the cation exchange watersoftener 100, rather than discharging the waste water 115 through theexternal discharge tube 109, now discharges reclaimable regenerantsolution 114. That is, the fluid discharged from the cation exchangewater softener 100 in these intermediate to later portions of theregenerant phase has a high concentration of soft water ions 132, andthus may be appropriately be reclaimed, stored into the regenerantsolution tank and reused in subsequent regeneration cycles.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show initial portions of a slow rinse phase of theregeneration cycle of the cation exchange water softener 100. Duringthese initial portions of this slow rinse phase, the flow of regenerantsolution through the regenerant solution inlet tube 103 is stopped orcut off, while the second flow passage remains connected to the externaldischarge tube 109. This can be accomplished, for example, by using anaircheck in the regenerant solution tank (not shown), which checks theflow of regenerant solution into the regenerant solution inlet tube 103.As shown in FIG. 8, in the initial portions of this slow rinse phase,the discharged water contains lower and decreasing concentrations ofsoft water ions 132. As a result, the discharged water is no longerreclaimable regenerant solution 114. Moreover, the discharged water hasa very low concentration of hard water ions 130. Thus, the dischargedwater is now reclaimable water 116 that is suitable for recapture andstorage as a grey water source. The reclaimed reclaimable water 116 maybe used in situations that do not require potable water, such as, forexample, operating toilets, watering plants and the like.

FIG. 9 shows a fast rinse phase of the regeneration cycle of the cationexchange water softener 100. During this fast rinse phase, the waterconditioning controller moves from its second position to a thirdposition, where the first flow passage is connected to the raw waterinlet port 101, while the second flow passage remains connected to theexternal discharge tube 109. As shown in FIG. 9, the flow rate of thehard raw water from the raw water inlet port 101 through the inlet tubeand into the tank 102 increases substantially, repacking the resin beads120 that were loosened during the backwash phase. The discharged waterexiting the tank 102 through the second flow passage and the waterconditioning controller and into the external discharge tube 109 is nowreclaimable water 116 that may be suitable for recapture and storage asa grey water source.

Thus, reclaiming the discharged water during specific time intervals ofthe regeneration cycle may result in reclaiming reclaimable regenerantsolution 114 that retains a high concentration of soft water ions 132.This reclaimed regenerant solution 114 may be useable as a source ofsoft water ions 132 for the current and/or future regeneration cycle.Likewise, reclaiming the discharged water during other specific timeintervals of the regeneration cycle may result in recapturing thereclaimable water 116 at a time when it has a sufficiently lowconcentration of soft water ions 132. This portion of reclaimed water116 may be useable as a grey water source for water needs that do notrequire potable or softened water (e.g., operating toilets, wateringplants, etc.) Additionally, sensors may be used to determine the actualor expected concentrations of hard water ions 130 and/or soft water ions132 present in the discharged water, as a factor in determining whetherit is desirable to reclaim various portions of the discharged water forone or more secondary uses.

It should be appreciated that, in various other examples of embodiments,the waste water 115 may be recaptured, rather than being discharged intoa drain or sewer line as waste water. In some such examples ofembodiments, the recaptured waste water 115 may be treated and/or may becombined with either and/or both of some or all of the reclaimable water116 and/or some or all of the reclaimed regenerant solution 114 to forman additional amount of grey water. Finally, if portions of thereclaimable water 116 meets certain standards and/or can be treated tomeet those standards, those portions of the reclaimable water 116 can bestored as a source of potable water.

FIG. 10 shows a graph representing the relative concentration of softwater ions 132 (and thus the corresponding concentration of hard waterions 130) present in the discharged water output through the externaldischarge tube 109 at various times during a regeneration cycle. Asshown in FIG. 10, during latter portions of the backwash phase andinitial portions of the regenerant solution phase, the discharged waterhas a low concentration of soft water ions 132 and a high concentrationof hard water ions 130 due to the raw water 110 used during the backwashphase and due to a substantial portion of the soft water ions 132 in theregenerant solution 112 replacing or changing places with the hard waterions 130 initially associated with the resin beads 120.

As the regenerant solution phase continues, the concentration of softwater ions 132 in the discharged water increases and the concentrationof hard water ions 130 decreases as there are fewer hard water ions 130associated with the resin beads 120 for the soft water ions 132 to tradeplaces with, and thus fewer soft water ions 132 replacing hard waterions 130 associated with the resin beads 120. At some point during theregenerant solution phase, the concentration of soft water ions 132 inthe discharged water levels off, and remains generally at that levelduring the final portions of the regenerant solution phase and/or duringinitial portions of the slow rinse phase. Then, during latter portionsof the slow rinse phase and/or during the fast rinse phase, theconcentration of soft water ions 132 in the discharged water decreasessubstantially.

As outlined above, it may be desirable to reclaim or recapture thedischarged water from the cation exchange water softener 100 during oneor more specific time periods of the regeneration cycle when thedischarged water may be usable for one or more secondary uses. FIG. 11illustrates one or more examples of embodiments of a recapture/reclaimprotocol useable to control one or more controllable valves of a waterdischarge management system according to this invention that isconnected to between the external discharge tube 109 and the drain orsewer line. At least one of the one or more controllable valves isprovided between the external discharge tube 109 and the drain or sewerline to divert reclaimable or recapturable discharge water from thedrain or sewer line. These controllable valves allow the dischargedwater supplied from the water conditioning controller to the externaldischarge tube 109 to be redirected to one or more grey water storagetank(s), one or more regenerant solution tank(s), one or more treatmentstorage tank(s) or one or more potable water storage tank(s) or thelike.

As shown in FIGS. 10-12, in this example of one or more embodiments ofthe regeneration cycle, the backwash phase of the cation exchange watersoftener 100 began at some time t1. As discussed above, during aninitial portion of the backwash phase, between times t1 and t2, thedischarge water may be unsuitable for recapturing or reclaiming.However, by time t2, the discharge water has cleared sufficiently thatit can be recaptured for a particular use, such as for use as greywater. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 10, beginning at time t2, for afirst grey water recapture period Δt1, the water discharge managementsystem connected to the external discharge tube 109 controls one or moreof the controllable valves to direct the recaptured water from thedischarge tube to a grey water storage tank. The backwash phase of thecation exchange water softener 100 continues to time t3, at which pointthe backwash phase ends and the regenerant solution phase or brine phaseof the cation exchange water softener 100 begins.

However, in the example embodiment shown in FIG. 10, recapturing thedischarge water as grey water continues beyond time t2 for the entirefirst grey water recapture period Δt1, although it can stop prior tothat point in time. That is, in the example embodiment shown in FIG. 10,the first grey water recapture period Δt1 extends beyond time t2 andcontinues until a time t3 and thus covers an initial portion of theregenerant solution phase. That is, as discussed above, during aninitial portion of the regenerant solution phase, the discharge waterremains recapturable as grey water. However, in the example embodimentshown in FIG. 10, at time t3, the soft water ion concentration in thedischarge water has risen sufficiently that the discharge water is nolonger suitable for use as grey water. It should be appreciated thattime t3 does not represent a fixed point along the time line shown inFIG. 10, but may vary depending on the percentage of soft water ions inthe discharged water, the maximum amount of soft water ions permitted inthe reclaimable water, and any other known or later developed factor orcriteria or characteristic.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, beginning at time t3, for a first waste waterperiod Δt2, the water discharge management system connected to theexternal discharge tube 109 controls one or more of the controllablevalves to direct the discharge water, which is now waste water, from theexternal discharge tube 109 to the drain or sewer line. The regenerantsolution phase or brine phase of the cation exchange water softener 100continues to time t4, at which point the regenerant solution phase orbrine phase ends and the slow rinse phase of the cation exchange watersoftener 100 begins.

At some time after time t3, the soft water ion concentration in thedischarge water reaches a maximum value. Subsequently, at time t4, notonly does the regenerant solution phase or brine phase end, but thefirst waste water period Δt2 also ends, and a first regenerant solutionreclaim period Δt3 begins. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 10, beginningat time t4, for the first regenerant solution reclaim period Δt3, thewater discharge management system connected to the external dischargetube 109 controls one or more of the controllable valves to direct thereclaimable regenerant solution from the discharge tube to a regenerantsolution generating tank, to a regenerant solution storage tank and/orback to the cation exchange water softener 100. The regenerant solutiongenerating tank contains a supply of a dissolvable chemical compoundthat will dissolve in the water supplied into that tank to generate thesaturated regenerant solution to be used during the regenerant solutionphase. Of course, it is understood that a pre-mixed or other unmixedsolution may be used as a regenerant solution.

It should be appreciated that the first waste water period Δt2 can end,and thus the first regenerant solution reclaim period Δt3 can begin, atany suitable time after the soft water ion concentration in thedischarge water reaches a maximum value. Thus, the first regenerantsolution reclaim period Δt3 can begin during the regenerant solution orbrine phase. However, once the first regenerant solution reclaim periodΔt3 begins, it may be desirable to reclaim as much of the regenerantsolution as possible, and thus it is uncommon to end the firstregenerant solution reclaim period Δt3 before time t5.

As outlined above, in the example embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the firstregenerant solution reclaim period Δt3 extends over an initial portionof the slow rinse phase, between times t4 and t5. At time t5 during theslow rinse phase, the soft water ion concentration in the dischargewater begins to decline. Thus, at time t5, the first regenerant solutionreclaim period Δt3 ends. However, the soft water ion concentration inthe discharge water is still high, and thus the discharge water may notbe suitable for reclaiming or recapturing. Accordingly, a second wastewater period Δt4 begins at time t5 and extends until time t6, which isalso during the slow rinse phase. During the second waste water periodΔt4, the water discharge management system connected to the externaldischarge tube 109 again controls one or more of the controllable valvesto direct the waste water from the external discharge tube 109 to thedrain or sewer line.

Of course, it should be appreciated that, in other embodiments, thepoint of time along the time line where the discharge water becomesunsuitable for reclaiming or recapturing, i.e., point t5, can varydepending on the percentage of soft water ions in the discharged water,the maximum amount of soft water ions permitted in the reclaimablewater, and any other known or later developed factor. Likewise, in otherembodiments, the point of time along the time line where the dischargewater again becomes suitable for reclaiming or recapturing, i.e., pointt6, can vary based on the same or similar factors or criteria orcharacteristics.

It should be appreciated that the second waste water period Δt4 does nothave to begin at time t5, but can begin at some other time after (orpossibly before) time t5. Delaying the start of the second waste waterperiod Δt4, and thus the end of the first regenerant solution reclaimperiod Δt3, would allow additional portions of the discharge water to berecaptured as reclaimed regenerant solution 114. Likewise, it should beappreciated that the second waste water period Δt4 does not have to endat time t6, but can end at some other time before (or possibly before)time t6. Moving up the end of the second waste water period Δt4, andthus the beginning of the next period Δt5, would allow additionalportions of the discharge water to be recaptured as well.

At time t6, the second waste water period Δt4 ends and a second greywater recapture period Δt5 begins. As shown in FIG. 10, in this exampleembodiment, the second grey water period Δt5 encompasses a final portionof the slow rinse phase, between times t6 and t7, and between times t7and t8, which is essentially all of a fast rinse phase. As in the firstgrey water recapture period Δt1, during the second grey water recaptureperiod Δt5, the water discharge management system connected to theexternal discharge tube 109 controls one or more of the controllablevalves to direct the recaptured water from the external discharge tube109 to a grey water storage tank. It should be appreciated that this canbe the same grey water storage tank or a separate grey water storagetank. At time t8, the regeneration cycle, and thus the flow of dischargewater from the external discharge tube 109, ends.

As discussed above, the concentration of soft water ions 132 present inthe discharged water solution 112 reaches a maximum after the secondtime period Δt2. After the third, fourth and fifth time periods Δt3, Δt4and Δt5, the concentration of hard water ions 130 in the dischargedwater solution 112 begins to decrease, as water from the well or mainline is used to rinse remaining brine from the cation exchange watersoftener 100.

It should be appreciated that the concentration of soft water ions 132may need to reach a sufficient concentration before the soft water ions132 can sufficiently replace the hard water ions 130 on the resin beads120. As such, there may be a portion of time (such as for example,during second and/or third time periods Δt2 and/or Δt3, and/or duringportions of one or both of these time periods) where the concentrationof soft water ions 132 increases, while the amount of hard water ions130 in the discharged water remains approximately steady.

It should be appreciated that the various fluids reclaimed or recapturedfrom the discharged water are not necessarily limited to being reclaimedand/or recaptured as in the embodiment outlined above with respect toFIG. 10. For example, it may be desirable to reclaim the dischargedwater as the reclaimed regenerant solution 114 during portions of thetime periods Δt2, Δt3 and/or Δt4, which can then be used as a current orfuture source of the regenerant solution 112. Likewise, it may bedesirable to reclaim the discharged water as reclaimable water 116during other time periods when the discharged water being released has adesirable or usable concentration of soft water ions 132 and/or adesirable or usable concentration of hard water ions 130 for aparticular use. For example, it may be desirable to reclaim thedischarged reclaimable water 116 during at least some portions of thetime periods Δt1, Δt2, Δt4 and/or Δt5 for later use as a grey watersource, or even as a potable water source, in such cases, the dischargedwater is directed to a storage tank rather than into the drain/wasteline.

It should be appreciated that various ones of the time periods Δt1, Δt2,Δt3, Δt4 and Δt5 may be actual time periods controlled by a timer or maybe subjective time periods based on conditions or criteria orcharacteristics of the water discharge management system. For example,sensors may be provided that are usable to determine the actual orexpected concentrations of hard water ions 130 and/or soft water ions132 present in the discharged water. As such, the time period Δt2 may bea fixed, variable or determined time period between the beginning of theregeneration cycle or the regenerant solution phase and the point atwhich the concentration of soft water ions 132 reaches or is expected toreach a maximum. Likewise, the time period Δt3 may be a fixed, variableor determined delay to assure that the concentration of soft water ions132 remains high and the time period Δt4 may be a fixed, variable ordetermined time period between the time at which the discharged water isfirst collected and a time at which the concentration of soft water ions132 falls or is expected to have fallen below a minimum threshold.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart that outlines one or more examples of embodimentsof a method of water reclamation according to this invention. Theexample method of water reclamation shown in FIG. 11 may be particularlyuseful to reclaim discharge water that has a high concentration of soilwater ions as a current and/or future brine source. As shown in FIG. 11,the example method of water reclamation begins in step S100, andcontinues to step S110, where the cation exchange water softener startsa first or next portion or phase of the regeneration cycle. Operationthen continues to step S120.

In a regeneration cycle, the cation exchange water softener is providedwith raw hard water during a backwash phase, during a slow rinse phaseand/or during a fast rinse phase, and is provided with a regenerantsolution during a regenerant solution phase. The raw hard water and theregenerant solution pass over and/or around the resin beads and aredischarged. As outlined above, at certain times within the regenerationcycle, such as during portions of the backwash phase and/or duringinitial portions of the regenerant solution phase, the discharged waterhas a relatively high concentration of hard water ions and/or isotherwise unsuitable for reclaiming or recapturing. At other timeswithin the regeneration cycle, the discharged water has a relativelyhigh concentration of soft water ions and/or is otherwise suitable forreclaiming or recapturing.

Accordingly, in step S120, a determination is made whether it isdesirable to begin reclaiming the discharged water, such as for currentand/or later secondary uses, such as, for example, use as a brinesource. If it is not yet desirable for the discharged water to bereclaimed, operation jumps to step S140, where the discharged water isdirected to the drain or sewer line. Operation then continues from stepS140 to step S150. Otherwise, operation continues to step S130.

In step S130, the discharged water is recaptured as grey water or thelike, is reclaimed as reclaimable regenerant solution, or is recapturedfor some other appropriate use or purpose. That is, the discharged wateris redirected toward one of a variety of storage tanks or containers andthe like. The storage tank may be the original regenerant solutiongenerating tank or may be a secondary storage tank for storing theregenerant solution, grey water or any other type of recaptured orreclaimed discharged water. Alternatively, the reclaimable regenerantsolution may be cycled back (directly or indirectly) to the cationexchange water softener, in place of fresh or unused regenerantsolution. In any case, the discharged water may be reclaimed for acurrent and/or later use. Operation then jumps from step S130 to stepS150.

In step S150, a determination is made whether the current phase of theregeneration cycle has finished. If so, operation continues to stepS160. Otherwise, operation jumps back to step S120. In step S160, adetermination is made whether the current phase of the regenerationcycle is the last phase. If so, operation continues to step S170.Otherwise, operation jumps back to step S110, where the next phase ofthe regeneration cycle is initiated. In step S170, since the last phaseof the regeneration cycle has finished, meaning that the regenerationcycle itself has finished, the water conditioner controller sets thevalves between the raw hard water supply tube, the regenerant supplytube, the discharge tube and the soft water distribution tube intoposition to supply softened water to the soft water distribution system.Operation then continues to step S180, where operation of the methodends.

It should be appreciated that the determination made in step S120 may bemade by any suitable known or later-developed method and may bedifferent depending on the desired current or future use of the watersolution. In various examples of embodiments, a timer indicates how longthe regeneration cycle or the current phase of the regeneration cyclehas been running or how much time the regeneration cycle or the currentphase has remaining. In such examples of embodiments, after a givenamount of time, it may be assumed that the quality of the dischargedwater is such that it is appropriate to reclaim or recapture thedischarged water, such as when the discharge water has a suitably highconcentration of soft water ions and thus is desirably reclaimed as acurrent or future source of regenerant solution.

In various other examples of embodiments, one or more sensors may beprovided that determine the actual quality of the discharged water, suchas its clarity, the concentration of soft water ions in the dischargedwater, the concentration of hard water ions in the discharged water,and/or any other appropriate parameter or criteria or characteristic.For example, when the actual concentration of soft water ions reaches adefined or selected threshold, it is desirable to reclaim or recapturethe discharged water as a future source of regenerant solution. Ingeneral, any suitable known or later-developed method or device that isusable to determine the relative, actual or expected concentration ofsoft water ions, the relative, actual or expected concentration of hardwater ions, the relative, actual or expected ratio of soft water ions tohard water ions in, and/or the turbidity, the clarity or any otherquality of, the discharged water may be usable to determine whether itis desirable to collect that discharged water for a particular purpose.

It should be appreciated that the determination made in step S140 may bemade by any suitable known or later-developed method. In variousexamples of embodiments, a timer indicates how long the discharged waterhas been directed to the storage tank. In such examples of embodiments,after a given time period, it may be assumed that the discharged waterno longer has a suitably high concentration of soft water ions for thedischarged water to be reclaimed for current and/or later use as asource of regenerant solution. In various other examples of embodiments,one or more sensors may be provided that determine the actual quality ofthe discharged water, such as its clarity, the concentration of softwater ions in the discharged water, the concentration of hard water ionsin the discharged water, and/or any other appropriate parameter orcriteria or characteristic. When the actual concentration of soft waterions falls below a defined or selected threshold, it is no longerdesirable to collect the discharged water as reclaimed regenerantsolution. In general, any suitable known or later-developed method ordevice that is usable to determine the relative, actual or expectedconcentration of soft water ions, the relative, actual or expectedconcentration of hard water ions, the relative, actual or expected ratioof soft water ions to hard water ions in, and/or the turbidity, theclarity or any other quality of, the discharged water may be usable todetermine whether it is still desirable to collect that dischargedwater.

It should be appreciated that the above-outlined method may be changedslightly depending on the type of water desirably reclaimed (e.g.,depending on the intended secondary use of the reclaimed water). Forexample, if the secondary use of the reclaimed water is a grey wateruse, the discharged water may be reclaimed when soft water ionconcentration is relatively low and may be directed to the drain orsewer line during other portions of the regeneration cycle, such as whenthe hard water ion concentration is relatively high. Again, thisdetermination may be determined by any known or later-developed methodor device. Likewise, the method may be altered to allow for grey water,regenerant solution and/or other water reclamation during differentdesirable time periods of the same regeneration cycle.

FIG. 12 shows one or more examples of embodiments of a water dischargemanagement system 200 usable to reclaim one or more types of waterand/or portions of the regenerant solution during a typical regenerationcycle of a cation exchange water softener 220. As shown in FIG. 2, thewater discharge management system 200 includes a regenerant solutionsupply or generating tank or container 210, the cation exchange watersoftener 220, a first three-way valve 230, a second three-way valve 240,a potable water storage tank or container 250, a third three-way valve260, a grey water storage tank or container 270 and a reclaimedregenerant solution tube 264 that connects the third three-way valve 260to the regenerant solution supply or generating tank 210. The regenerantsolution supply or generating tank or container 210 stores a regenerantsolution that is saturated with soft water ions. A regenerant solutionsupply tube 212 connects an outlet of the regenerant solution supply orgenerating tank 210 and an inlet of the cation exchange water softener220. A discharge tube 226 connects the discharge outlet of the cationexchange water softener 220 and an inlet of the first three way valve230.

During various portions of the example regeneration cycle, raw hardwater and the regenerant solution from the regenerant solution supplytank 210 are variously provided to the cation exchange water softener220 through a raw water supply tube 222 and the regenerant solutionsupply tube 212. The discharge water discharged from the cation exchangewater softener 220 is then provided to the first three-way valve 230 viathe discharge tube 226. The first three-way valve 230 controllably andselectively directs the discharge water either to a waste tube 232 or toa first reclaim tube 234. The waste tube 232 conveys the discharge waterto a drain or sewer line or the like. In contrast, the first reclaimtube 234 directs the discharge water to the second three-way valve 240.The first three-way valve 230 may be used to direct the discharge waterto the waste tube 232 during periods in which the discharge water has anundesirable or unusable concentration of soft water ions and/or anundesirable or unusable concentration of hard water ions. Likewise, thefirst three-way valve 230 may be used to direct the discharge water tothe reclaim tube 234 during periods in which the discharge water has adesirable or usable concentration of soft water ions and/or a desirableor usable concentration of hard water ions.

The first reclaim tube 234 is connected to an inlet of the secondthree-way valve 240. The second three-way valve 240 may be usable tocontrollably and selectively direct the reclaimable discharge watereither to a potable water storage tank 250 or to a third three-way valve260. The second three-way valve 240 connects the first reclaim tube 234to the potable water storage tank 250 through a tube 242 whenever adetermination is made that the reclaimed discharge water may beappropriately useable as a source of potable water. In contrast, thesecond three-way valve 240 connects the first reclaim tube 234 to thethird three-way valve 260 through a second reclaim tube 244. The thirdthree-way valve 260 may be usable to controllably and selectively directeither the reclaimable discharge water 116 to a grey water storage tankor container 270, via a tube 262, or the reclaimed regenerant solution114 to the regenerant solution supply or generating tank 210, via athird reclaim tube 264. That is, the third three-way valve 260 connectsthe second reclaim tube 244 either to the grey water storage tank 270through the grey water tube 262 or to the regenerant solution supply orgenerating tank 210 through the third reclaim tube 264. The thirdthree-way valve 260 directs the discharged and reclaimed discharge water116 to the grey water tank 270 when the discharged water has a suitableconcentration of soft water ions and/or hard water ions for grey wateruse (e.g., a low concentration of soft water ions and/or a highconcentration of hard water ions). The third three-way valve 260 directsthe discharged and reclaimed regenerant solution 114 to the regenerantsolution supply or generating tank 210 when the reclaimed regenerantsolution 114 has a suitable concentration of soft water ions and/or hardwater ions (e.g., a high concentration of soft water ions and/or a lowconcentration of hard water ions).

It should be appreciated that the discharge water 116 that has beendirected to, and stored in, the grey water storage tank 270 and/or thepotable water storage tank 250 can be (optionally) treated, pressurizedand reused for potable and/or non-potable uses (such as, for example,flushing toilets, watering plants and lawns, etc.). It should also beappreciated that, in various other examples of embodiments that thethird reclaim tube 264, rather than connecting third three-way valve 260to the regenerant solution supply or generating tank 210, insteadconveys the reclaimed regenerant solution 114 to a secondary regenerantsolution storage tank or container for storage and/or later use. In suchexamples of embodiments, the fresh, original or unused regenerantsolution 112 stored in the regenerant solution supply or generating tank210 does not mix with the reclaimed regenerant solution 114, which coulddilute, contaminate or otherwise alter the fresh, original or unusedregenerant solution 112 stored in the regenerant solution supply orgenerating tank 210.

it should further be appreciated that, in various other examples ofembodiments, rather than connecting the third three-way valve 260directly to the brine source tank 210 via the third reclaim tube 264,the outlet from the third three-way valve 260 is connected to a resupplytube 280 (shown in shadow in FIG. 12) that conveys the discharged andreclaimed regenerant solution 114 directly back to the regenerantsolution source tube 212, such that the reclaimed regenerant solution114 flows into the cation exchange water softener 220 in place oforiginal, unused or fresh regenerant solution 112 from the regenerantsolution supply or generating tank 210. Furthermore, in some examples ofembodiments, a fourth three-way (not shown) could be used tocontrollably or selectively connect the outlet from the third three-wayvalve 260 to the tubes 264 and 280.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 12, three distinct types ofdischarged water are recaptured or reclaimed. It should be appreciatedthat if only one or two types of discharged water are desirablyreclaimed (such as, for example, if only the regenerant solution 114and/or only portions of discharged grey water 116 is desired forreclamation), then the second and/or third three-way valves 240 and/or260 may be omitted. For example, in many installations, it may be tooexpensive to use recaptured portions of the discharge water as potablewater due to such factors as any required post-capture treatments, thevolume of the portions that can ultimately be usable as potable water,return on the additional investment in the three-way valve 240, theadditional storage tank(s), the additional plumbing and the like. Insuch installations, the second three-way valve 240, the storage tank 250and the connecting tube 242 may be omitted, with the tube 234 insteadconnected directly to the third three-way valve 260.

In other installations, both the second and third three-way valves 240and 260, and their attendant storage tanks 250 and 270, may be omittedalong with the various one of the tubes 242, 244, 262 and/or 280. Insuch installations, the tube 234 conveys the reclaimed discharge waterto the desired storage tank or back to the cation exchange watersoftener 220 for re-use, depending on the type of discharge water thatis recaptured or reclaimed.

It should he appreciated that, in various examples of embodiments, thewater discharge management system 200 may be used to reclaim orrecapture all of the discharge water discharged during the regenerationcycle and/or to separate the discharge water into more than the 4 types(waste, grey and potable water and regenerant solution) discussed above.In such examples of embodiments, three, four or more motorized three-wayvalves may be connected in a series configuration (as shown in FIG. 12)or in a tree configuration. It should additionally be appreciated that,as discussed above with respect to FIG. 10, in various examples ofembodiments, the discharged water may be captured or reclaimed for eachof one or more different uses over one or more different portions of theregeneration cycle. In such examples of embodiments, each implementedthree-way valve, such as the first-third three-way valves 230, 240 and260, may be configured and controllably operated to direct thedischarged water to a first tank for one use during one or moredifferent time periods and to a second tank for another use during theremaining time periods, to a first tank for one use during one or moretime periods and another three-way valve during the remaining timeperiods or to one three-way valve during one or more time periods andanother three-way valve during the remaining time periods.

Thus, as discussed above, it should be appreciated that any number ortype of three-way valves may be provided in the water dischargemanagement system 200 and can be connected in any appropriateconfiguration, such as in a cascaded manner or in a tree structure, todirect the discharged water to any number of storage tanks. Further,while three-way valves are specifically described for the examples ofembodiments discussed herein, any multi-way valve would be acceptablefor the purposes provided. For example, it should also be appreciatedthat any two three-way valves may be replaced with a single suitablefour-way valve that controllably and selectively connects the input tubeto three output tubes. Furthermore, all of the three- or more- wayvalves may be replaced with a single controllably operable manifoldhaving a suitable number of ports that can be controllably opened andshut as desired. For example, in the example embodiment shown in FIG.12, the second and third three-way valves 240 and 260 could be replacedwith a single 4-way valve connected between the tube 234 and the tubes242, 262 and 264 (and/or 280) or all three three-way valves could bereplaced with a manifold connected between the tube 226 and the tubes232, 242, 262 and 264 (and/or 280). Additionally, any one three-wayvalve may be replaced with a pair of two-way valves.

It should be appreciated that the various types of controllably operabletwo-way valves, 3-, 4- and more-way valves and/or manifolds, such as thefirst-third three-way valves 230, 240 and 260, may be implemented usingany suitable known or later-developed valve type or structure. Likewise,the valves may be any suitable valve, including but not limited to,motorized, solenoid valves, flapper valves, ball valves, and the like.

In various examples of embodiments, the first-third three-way valves230, 240 and 260 are desirably implemented using three-way motorizedalternating valves (MAVs), such as that available from Clack Corporationof Windsor, Wis. In various examples of embodiments, a single controllercan be used to control one, two or even all three of the first-thirdthree-way valves 230, 240 and 260, as well as to control and implementthe regeneration cycle of the cation exchange water softener 220. Whilea particular example of a controller is described herein, any suitablecontroller adapted to accomplish the purposes provided may be acceptablefor use with the water discharge management system.

The motorized alternating valves are especially useful in low-costresidential and light-commercial water softening systems, as they omitrelays and other high cost electronics, which significantly reducestheir cost and simplifies their connection to the controller. Inparticular, the motorized alternating valves are each connected to thecontroller using a single pair of wires or signal paths. That is, incontrast to conventional controllable valves, which use mechanicalrelays, electronic power transistors or the like, to control thedirection the valve is operated in, the motorized alternating valvesoperate based on the polarity of the drive signal provided to that pairof wires by the controller. Thus, to drive a motorized alternating valvefirst in one direction and then in the opposite direction, thecontroller merely first connects a first one of the pair of wires toground and places the drive signal on the second wire, and then connectsthe second wire to ground and places the drive signal on the first wire.

Similarly, in contrast to conventional controllable valves, which uselimit switches or the like to detect when the valve has reached its endof travel and thus no longer needs to be driven, the motorizedalternating valve merely provides a substantially increased load whenthe valve reaches one end of its travel. This substantially increasedload results in the motorized alternating valve drawing a substantiallyincreased amount of current, which can be sensed or detected byappropriate circuitry added to the controller. Thus, when the controllerdetects or senses that the amount of current drawn by a particularmotorized alternating valve over the single pair of wires has increased,the controller merely removes the drive signal from that pair of wiresto de-energize that motorized alternating valve.

It should also be appreciated that, rather than physically wiring themotorized alternating valves to the controller, in some examples ofembodiments, the controller outputs one or more wireless signals to oneor more of the motorized alternating valves. Wireless on-boardcontrollers that receive those signals then place the appropriate drivesignals having the appropriate polarity on those one or more motorizedalternating valves. Each of those wireless on-board controllers alsotakes over sensing when the current drawn by the corresponding motorizedalternating valve increases and removing the drive signal from thatcorresponding motorized alternating valve in response.

In operation, when the motorized alternating valve is to be altered fromits first position, where it connects the input line to a first outputline, such as the tubes 232, 242 or 262, to its second position, whereit connects the input line to a second output line, such as the tubes234, 244 or 264, the controller connects the appropriate one of the pairof wires or signal lines for that valve to the drive signal and connectsthe other one of the pair of wires or signal lines for that valve toground. As a result, the motorized alternating valve rotates away fromthe first position and toward the second position.

At the same time, the controller monitors the current drawn by thatmotorized alternating valve. When the motorized alternating valvereaches the second position, a stop prevents it from rotating further.The motor of the motorized alternating valve sees this as an increasedload, and thus draws additional current. This additional current drawnby that motorized alternating valve is sensed by the controller, whichinterprets the increase in the current draw as indicating the motorizedalternating valve is now in the second position. Accordingly, thecontroller removes the drive signal from the appropriate one of the pairof wires or drive signal lines.

To reverse the motorized alternating valve and move it from the secondposition to the first position, the controller places the drive signalon the other one of the pair of wires or signal lines and the groundsignal on the first one of the pair of wires or signal lines and waitsfor the current drawn by the motorized alternating valve to againincrease.

In various examples of embodiments, each of the three-way valves isconnected to the controller, which controls the operation of thethree-way valves based on how the discharge water currently being outputfrom the cation exchange water softener 220 is to be handled. It shouldbe appreciated that the three-way valve can be connected to thecontroller using any known or later developed communication protocol.For example, in various examples of embodiments, the pair or wires orsignal lines from each three-way valves is connected to a separate porton the controller. The controller operates the motor of a giventhree-way valve by providing the drive and ground signals to thecorresponding port in the appropriate polarity to move the motor of thatthree-way valve in the desired direction. In various other examples ofembodiments, a single bus (such as, for example, a parallel or serialbus) connects the pairs of wires or signal lines for all of thethree-way valves to the controller. In such examples of embodiments,each three-way valve responds to a different signal on the bus (e.g.,through identification signals or separate communications lines on thebus). In yet other examples of embodiments, each three-way valvecommunicates with the controller using a wireless communicationsprotocol.

Thus, as outlined above, the first-third three-way valves 230, 240 and260 do not use or require switches to determine the present position ofthe valve (e.g., open, closed, or in between). The controllercontrolling the first-third three-way valves 230, 240 and 260 monitorsthe amounts of electrical current drawn by the first-third three-wayvalves 230, 240 and 260. When the motor for a given valve has reached anend of travel, such that that valve has fully moved to the first orsecond position and thus should be stopped, the amount of current drawnby that valve increases sharply. The controller, which monitors theamount of current drawn by that valve, senses or detects the increasedamount of current drawn by that valve, which it treats as the signal tode-energize that valve. Additionally, in various examples ofembodiments, the controller includes a timer that tracks the amount oftime between the motor being initialed and when it reaches an end oftravel. This timing feature can be used to detect errors or faults inthe value, as it indicates if the motor takes too much time to reach theexpected end of travel. The excess amount of time and the direction thevalve was traveling in may provide information that allows the faultyvalve to be diagnosed.

It should he appreciated that, in various other examples of embodiments,rather than sensing the current draw, the three-way valves may eachinclude an optical counter to determine when the three-way valve hasreached the end of its travel in a particular direction. This is similarto the techniques used on the control valve, and allows the controllerto operate the three-way valves independently and without having to belimited to sensing the current draw.

It should be appreciated that the water discharge management system 200may additionally include one or more three-way valves upstream of thecation exchange water softener 220. For example, the water dischargemanagement system 200 may include a three-way valve on the raw watersupply tube 222 between the raw hard water supply and the cationexchange water softener 220. This additional three-way valve can be usedto controllably and selectively connect the inlet of the cation exchangewater softener 220 to the raw hard water supply (e.g., a well or autility main line) or a secondary source of water used for regenerationpurposes only (such as, for example, a supply of previously softenedwater that is used in place of the raw hard water during the backwashand slow and fax rinse phases).

Likewise, two water discharge management systems 200, or two cationexchange water softeners 220, may be connected in parallel, series oralternating controllably and selectively connected to the downstreamsoft water distribution system by yet another three-way valve. In suchexamples of embodiments, one water discharge management system 200 orone cation exchange water softener 220 may be active while the otherwater discharge management system 200 or other cation exchange watersoftener 220 is in a stand-by mode or undergoing a regeneration cycle.In another example, the water discharge management systems 200 may beconnected in parallel operating as a demand recall system and/or stageby flow. In such examples, all units may be in service at the same time,or may bring additional unit(s) on line as the gpm flow rate increasesand consequently drop unit(s) off line as the flow rate decreases. Inany of the foregoing examples of embodiments, any additional three-wayvalves upstream of the cation exchange water softener 220 may becontrolled by the same controller as the regeneration cycle of thecation exchange water softener 220 and/or by the same controller as anythree-way valves that are downstream of the cation exchange watersoftener 220 (e.g., the first-third three-way valves 230, 240 and 260).

While specific examples are provided herein, one of skill in the artwould understand the water management system herein may be used toreclaim some or all of the waste water from various filtration systems.For example, some or all of the waste stream from a carbon filter systemused to remove chlorine from the water supply could be reclaimed andused for example as a water supply source for certain applications. Itis understood that various other types of filters and various othertypes of reclaim purpose may he substituted in place of the systemsdescribed.

The water discharge management systems and methods described hereinprovide various advantages over existing devices. For example, thesystem and method permit a reduction in the volume of the salt water orbrine solution used during the regeneration cycle will result in acorresponding reduction in the amount of sodium salt purchased by theend user. Likewise, a reduction in the volume of the salt water or brinesolution used in the regeneration cycle will result in a reduction inthe amount of sodium salt released into the local environment. Reducingthe amount of sodium salt released into the local environment may havesignificant positive environmental implications.

In locations and/or times of particular water scarcity, it may bedesirable to conserve as much water as possible. As such, it may bedesirable to reclaim any water that is discharged from the cationexchange water softener when that water has additional usability. Thatis, if the water discharged from the cation exchange water softener, atany point during the regeneration cycle, can be used for other purposes(e.g., as a salt water or brine solution, as grey (e.g., non-potable)water, as potable water, etc), that discharged water may be reclaimedfor current or future use. The disclosed water discharge managementsystem advantageously provides systems, methods and/or apparatuses thatare usable to reduce the amount of water and/or salt used during aregeneration cycle of a cation exchange water softener. One or moreexamples of embodiments of systems, methods and/or apparatus accordingto this invention may be usable to reclaim water that has beendischarged during the regeneration cycle of the cation exchange watersoftener When the discharged water has a high concentration of softwater ions (e.g., so called “sweet brine”). This reclaimed water, withits high concentration of soft water ions, can be used during the sameand/or subsequent regeneration cycles, as a source of soft water ions.

The disclosed water discharge management system also advantageouslylimits the amount of water waste by reclaiming water that can be usedfor one or more other purposes, One or more examples of embodiments ofsystems, methods and/or apparatus according to this invention may beusable to reclaim water discharged during the regeneration cycle whichwater can be used for current and/or future purposes (e.g., grey waterusable in non-potable situations, etc).

This water discharge management system described herein separatelyprovides one or more three-way valves for alternatively directing waterthat has been discharged during a regeneration cycle to either a wasteline or one or more reclamation lines. This system also separatelyprovides systems, apparatus and methods that return water that has beendischarged during a regeneration cycle of a cation exchange watersoftener to a salt water/brine solution source tank when the dischargedwater has a sufficiently high concentration of dissolved soft waterions. This system separately provides systems, apparatus and methodsthat return water that has been discharged during a regeneration cycleof a cation exchange water softener to a grey water source tank when thedischarged water has a sufficiently low concentration of dissolved softwater ions. This system separately provides systems, apparatus andmethods for determining whether water being discharged during aregeneration cycle of a cation exchange water softener should bereclaimed or discarded. This system separately provides control devicesusable to determine whether water being discharged during a regenerationcycle of a cation exchange water softener should be reclaimed ordiscarded. This system separately provides systems, apparatus andmethods for reclaiming water that has been discharged during desirableand/or selected time periods of a regeneration cycle of a cationexchange water softener and discarding water that has been dischargedduring undesirable and/or unselected time periods of the regenerationcycle.

As utilized herein, the terms “approximately,” “about,” “substantially,”and similar terms are intended to have abroad meaning in harmony withthe common and accepted usage by those of ordinary skill in the art towhich the subject matter of this disclosure pertains. It should beunderstood by those of skill in the art that these terms are intended toallow a description of certain features described and claimed withoutrestricting the scope of these features to the precise numerical rangesprovided. Accordingly, these terms should be interpreted as indicatingthat insubstantial or inconsequential modifications or alterations ofthe subject matter described and claimed are considered to be within thescope of the invention as recited in the appended claims.

It should be noted that references to relative positions (e.g., “top”,“bottom”, “side”, “left”, “right”) in this description are merely usedto identify various elements as are oriented in the Figures. It shouldhe recognized that the orientation of particular components may varygreatly depending on the application in which they are used.

For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “coupled” and the term“connected” mean the joining of two members directly or indirectly toone another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or moveable innature. Such joining may be achieved with the two members or the twomembers and any additional intermediate members being integrally formedas a single unitary body with one another or with the two members or thetwo members and any additional intermediate members being attached toone another. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removableor releasable in nature.

It is important to note that the construction and arrangement of watersoftener system and the water discharge management system as shown inthe various examples of embodiments is illustrative only. Although onlya few embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure,those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readilyappreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations insizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the variouselements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials,colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novelteachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example,elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple partsor elements show as multiple parts may he integrally formed, theoperation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, thelength or width of the structures and/or members or connector or otherelements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustmentpositions provided between the elements may be varied (e.g., byvariations in the number of engagement slots or size of the engagementslots or type of engagement). The order or sequence of any process ormethod steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternativeembodiments. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissionsmay be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of thevarious examples of embodiments without departing from the spirit orscope of the present invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of water discharge management in a water processing system comprising: providing a supply of a first solution; providing a supply of a second solution; selectively supplying the first solution to a water processing system and the second solution to the water processing system; discharging a discharge water from the water processing system; and implementing a reclamation protocol comprising: controllably and selectively directing the discharge water from the water processing system directly through a first multi-way valve to a waste outlet during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a first selected criteria, and to a second multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a second selected criteria; controllably and selectively directing the discharge water received from the first multi-way valve through the second multi-way valve to a first tube during a period in which the discharge water does not satisfy a third criteria, or to a second tube fluidly coupled to a regenerant solution storage container during a period in which the discharge water satisfies the third selected criteria; and controllably and selectively directing the discharge water from the waste outlet through an external drain line, wherein the discharge water in the external drain line comprises non-recaptured turbid liquid waste; wherein the first multi-way valve and the second multi-way valve are controlled by the water processing system which also controls and implements a regeneration cycle of the water processing system and the reclamation protocol; wherein the second selected criteria and the third selected criteria are each selected from the group consisting of a concentration of soft water ions, a concentration of hard water ions, a ratio of soft water ions to hard water ions, turbidity of the discharged water, and clarity of the discharged water; and wherein the second selected criteria and the third selected criteria are different selected criteria from the group.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first solution supply is a supply of a regenerant solution having soft water ions.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second solution supply is a supply of raw hard water having hard water ions.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the water processing system is selected from the group consisting of a water conditioning system, an ion exchange system, and a filtration system.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the water processing system is selected from the group consisting of a water conditioning unit, a cation exchange system, an anion exchange system, a water filtration system, pH filter, acid neutralizer, carbon filtration system, taste filter, odor filter, multi-media filter, ag filter, birm filter, iron filter, hydrogen sulfide filter, sand filter, and particulate filter.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising controllably and selectively directing the discharge water through the second multi-way valve to a grey water storage container during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a fourth selected criteria selected from the group consisting of a concentration of soft water ions, a concentration of hard water ions, a ratio of soft water ions to hard water ions, turbidity of the discharged water, and clarity of the discharged water, wherein the fourth selected criteria is different from the second selected criteria and the third selected criteria.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first selected criteria is selected from the group consisting of a concentration of soft water ions, a concentration of hard water ions, a ratio of soft water ions to hard water ions, turbidity of the discharged water, and clarity of the discharged water, and the first selected criteria is different from the second selected criteria and the third selected criteria.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the fourth selected criteria is selected from the group consisting of a low concentration of soft water ions and high concentration of hard water ions.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the third selected criteria is selected from a group consisting of a high concentration of soft water ions and a low concentration of hard water ions.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the supply of first solution is stopped while discharged water continues to exit the water processing system during a slow rinse phase.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the flow rate of second solution from the supply of second solution into the water processing system increases, repacking resin beads of the water processing system during a fast rinse phase, and recapturing the discharge water exiting the water processing system.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a valve controller executing the reclamation protocol to control the first and second multi-way valves and divert the discharge water through the system.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the valve controller uses a predetermined time period to execute the reclamation protocol.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the valve controller uses an optical controller to execute the reclamation protocol.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the valve controller senses current draw to execute the reclamation protocol.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the valve controller uses a characteristic of the discharge water to execute the reclamation protocol.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the water processing system comprises an ion exchange medium comprising a bed of resin beads.
 18. The method of water discharge management of claim 1, further comprising: controllably and selectively directing the discharge water received from the first multi-way valve directly through the second multi-way valve to a waste water storage container connected to the second multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a fourth selected criteria, and to a third multi-way valve during a period in which the discharge water satisfies a fifth selected criteria; wherein the third multi-way valve is controlled by the water processing system.
 19. The method of claim 6, wherein the discharge water in the grey water storage container is treated for subsequent use. 